Finishing an Embroidery Project

I finished stitching the flower bouquet yesterday when I had some of the gang over to visit with Jen1 and Poppy. 

I changed the colour of the Forget-Me-Nots from light blue (which I didn't think would show up very well on the blue shirt) to a light lilac colour. I took this photo before I added the yellow centres to the flowers. I used colonial knots as I think they lie nicer than French knots.

It's an oversized 'boyfriend' shirt from Old Navy.

I went on the hunt for some Black-eyed Susan vine (thunbergia) after stitching today and found some at Sheridan Nurseries. It was more of a lemon yellow than the golden yellow that I prefer but there were only 3 pots left. I was too late last year to find any so grabbed one of them. Once home I got it planted under the obelisk.

While out there I did some watering. I'm really curious to see how well the zinnias and sunflowers do that I grew from seed.

I planted this perennial a couple of years ago and it's in full bloom right now. I had to do a Google Lens search because I couldn't remember the name. It's Geum.

This year I also have a bunch of wild strawberries trailing all over the place. There is actually fruit on this plant. When they ripen, I hope the squirrels don't get them before I do.

The foxgloves are starting to bloom. I'm not sure how long they'll last.

My neighbour allowed me to transplant these bachelor buttons (cornflowers) from her front yard last summer. The first set of blooms are almost done but there are more buds.

Out front, the transplanted hostas are doing very well. There is some balsam from previous years popping up here and there. I was going to rip it all out but I might transplant them in different locations in this garden or move them to one of the gardens in the back yard.

I sprayed weed killer on some spots in the back garden and am hoping the chemicals will do their work. I think the growth has been arrested, now I'm hoping the weeds will just die. 

I still have a bunch of weeding to do in the back beds before I purchase and lay down mulch. My horticulture guru, MaryK, suggested I get 'natural' mulch rather than the coloured stuff. I used black mulch last year but I didn't like how hot it got in the blazing sunshine.

This Friday is Kimat Designs' stitch day. Barb and I will do our usual meetup at Vandermeer's Nursery and carpool to the Lemonville Community Centre. I'm not sure if or what I'll take for the Show and Share table.

Today at stitching I did a bit of work on my Tomato Tomahto. I'm still working on the first of 6 wedges. There's a LOT of stitching on that piece.

Starting An Embroidery Project

I've had an empty spot on the yoke of a denim shirt for ages and haven't been able to make a decision on what to put there. It's the spot to the left of the Queen Anne's lace and bee.

This is on the other side of the blank spot.

I was looking through some stuff on my desk and found this pattern that I had purchased on Etsy all printed out. 

I scrounged up some Sticky Fabri-Solvy and printed the pattern onto it, rounded up a 5" hoop, and picked out all the colours. Then I set to work - first stitching the stems. I'll finish up with the blossoms. I like surface embroidery like this because there are no threads to count. The printable, water-soluble stabilizer makes transferring the design very easy. it will wash away/dissolve once all the stitching is finished.

 I got this far before my eyes got too tired and it got too late. I'll carry on tomorrow.

I did some more work in the garden. I found some Round Up concentrate in the garage so mixed it up and sprayed all the weeds I want to get rid of in some of my flower beds. I don't know how long it will take to kill the weeds - hopefully not long. Since the concentrate has frozen and thawed through a couple of winters in the garage, I'm not sure how effective it is either. 

I dug out a couple of hostas first which I'll transplant in the front garden once the weeds are dead. I also planted the anemone corms which I'll have to remember to water regularly. I think I killed all my zinnias I grew from seed due to lack of watering. Darn! I may have more seeds left which I will plant directly in the soil. 

I've been on the mailing list of the ukulele classes I took pre-COVID. My friend, Alexa, took the beginning ukulele class this spring. So she, and another ukulele friend, Catherine, and I attended the ukulele play/singalong at a local diner this evening. My fingers are sure feeling it. There were 24 songs in the set list including some where I got to play my kazoo. The next event will be July 8. Then I'll get to play again at music camp.

Speaking of music camp, I received confirmation of the classes I signed up for and in addition to ukulele, choir, madrigals, and concert band on my oboe, I got into the very limited enrolment handbell class. Jen1 is also coming this year so we'll have our own rooms but will share the bathroom between our rooms. It should be lots of fun.

Sashiko Sakura

 I was given a Sashiko piece and thread for my birthday. It is the sakura (cherry blossom) pattern and involves a LOT of stitching.

Looking at the package, I'm worried the one spool of thread won't be enough. Now that I'm actually reading the information on the package, it looks like this pattern requires five 20m hanks of thread or two 80m balls of thread. Oh dear. I just checked the spool I have and it only has 30m of thread so I definitely will have to source more. Probably three more spools. 

A little later...

I found the same thread and colour on Etsy from a seller in Hong Kong and ordered them. Arrival time will be between June 19 and 27. Shipping was only $8.38CAD from Hong Kong. Shipping the same items within Canada would have cost about $25CAD. I already had sashiko needles. 

It's already looking really nice.

There are English instructions on the accompanying sheet and diagrams. First, all the stitches are done through both layers of fabric back and forth. Once all horizontals are done, then I'll do the vertical lines. 

I'm simply covering the printed lines with the thread.

Then all the diagonals are stitched on one slant, (edges of petals, lines near centres of blossoms) then on the other slant.

Once all the stitching has been done, it is rinsed in water so all the printed lines will disappear. I think it's going to look really spiffy. It will just be a decorative cloth.